2017 - The Original "What Did You Buy Today?" Mega Thread

[Bill Gruby]

In the extras that came with the lathe is a small Criterion Boring Head. It is 1.5 inches square and should handle a 2 to 2.5 inch hole.

 

[woodchucker]

In the extras that came with the lathe is a small Criterion Boring Head. It is 1.5 inches square and should handle a 2 to 2.5 inch hole.

Ahhhh I was wondering why you would go for a HF lathe. Now I understand. I would have too for that. Sweet.

 

[Bill Gruby]

Jeff:
The price was right for the lathe. I have wanted to tangle with one of these for some time. Let's see if one can be brought into usable standards. One member here has one and he has done much to improve it. Anything can be made to work better. Of course the bennies are a plus.

"Billy G"

 

[ACHiPo]

Picked up these cute little vises Friday...

 

[mikey]

The Reed 103R is a highly regarded vise. It has the desired T-shape and replaceable jaws. You done good!
Once upon a time, Palmgren made really good drill press vises and the one you bought looks like an older one made in the US - hard to tell from a pic. They usually have a plate on the bottom of the dynamic jaw that allows you to minimize jaw lift. Take that plate out and make sure its flat and it will do a good job for you.

 

[darkzero]

A 6" vise is overkill for a RF45 style mill. A 4" is more appropiate for that size mill & IMO 5" max. I have a 5" GMT vise on my PM45 & it's slightly too big. Not enough Y axis travel to make use of the 5" full capacity. Better to save your money rather than getting something too big & most importantly the weight. I take my vise of the table quite often, a 6" is still light enough for me to be carried by hand but I'm glad I have a 5". I also have a 4" vise as well. I prefer the 5" though.

But those GMT 6" Premium vises are pretty nice. I'd love to have one but don't need one on my current mill. But if you plan on upgrading to a full size knee mill in the future than the 6" will be perfect.


Here's what the 5" looks like on my mill.



I couldn't even complete this cut without my bellows & DRO scale getting in the way. Not enough Y travel & the 5" vise is not even maxed out.



Here's what a 6" vise looks like on another PM45 (gt40's)
View attachment 253544

 

[ACHiPo]

The Reed 103R is a highly regarded vise. It has the desired T-shape and replaceable jaws. You done good!
Once upon a time, Palmgren made really good drill press vises and the one you bought looks like an older one made in the US - hard to tell from a pic. They usually have a plate on the bottom of the dynamic jaw that allows you to minimize jaw lift. Take that plate out and make sure its flat and it will do a good job for you.

The Reed is like new. Quite stiff and tight when I bought it. A little oil and cycling back and forth and the action smoothed things out, but remains nice and tight.

The Palmgren is indeed a US-made older vise. It does have the plate on the bottom. It's quite tiny--maybe 1 1/2" wide jaws?

 

[ACHiPo]

Took a few minutes to take
pics of my haul yesterday.

Shop-made angle clamp block and Kantwist clamps


Import parallel set


Brown and Sharp height gauge


Forming taps. Not sure whether I have a complete set, but have a couple each of 10-32 and 1/4-20, plus a bunch of smaller sizes.


Starrett adjustable parallels in fantastic condition.


Bench anvil (Starrett)


Starrett height gauge


1/2" OSG Cobalt roughing mill


Lufkin Miti-Mite magnetic height gauge


Various spiral point and spiral flute taps (HSS)



Starrett tap handle


Starrett small hole gauges


Chicago-Latrobe bright cobalt complete screw machine drill index


Starrett universal dial test indicator



Brown and Sharpe protractor


Starrett radius gauge set


Metric HSS taps


A couple Goldenrod oilers


And the coup de grace...the Gerstner

 

[francist]

Some nice looking stuff there, that's for sure. Good find.

-frank

 

[ACHiPo]

Some nice looking stuff there, that's for sure. Good find.

-frank

Thanks. Now I've just gotta learn how to use it!